An Indian priest covers his face with a mask as a precaution against coronavirus and prays at a temple, in Prayagraj, India, Monday, June 8, 2020. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Mariana Sousa, student of the Ballet Paraisopolis, warms up during a rehearse in Paraisopolis favela, outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 27, 2020, amid the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The 200 ballet students of Paraisopolis, the second largest favela in Sao Paulo, restarted rehearsals after five months with a coreography about a police operation that put their community in mourning last year. (Photo by Nelson Almeida/AFP Photo)

Getting her tongue pierced was “exciting and scary” says a teen who succumbed to pressure from her best friend in Austin, Texas, February 22, 2008. This image is featured in National Geographic's exhibition “Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment”, on view at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Jan. 22 - Mar. 22, 2015. (Photo by Kitra Cahana/National Geographic)

College students wearing traditional Punjabi attires celebrate the “Teej” festival in Amritsar on August 4, 2023. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

People look out at the city among 30,375 square feet of mirrors at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt in New York on May 22, 2024. The Parade of Ships is seen from SUMMIT One Vanderbilt in NYC as part of the Fleet Week Celebration events. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Penitentiary system guards carry an inmate with symptoms related to the novel coronavirus at the COVID-19 unit of San Juan de Dios hospital in Guatemala City on July 13, 2020. (Photo by Johan Ordonez/AFP Photo)

Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

A street performer dressed up as a waiter performs for at Marques de Larios street in downtown Malaga, Spain, July 4, 2016. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)